13 days. A blank canvas. A theme you just read for the first time. Go.

That’s a game jam. And if it’s your first — welcome to the chaos! 🎉

Mojo & Zantro was my first jam entry. There were moments of doubt, moments of panic, and moments where everything suddenly clicked. I came out the other side a different developer.

So let’s talk about it — the real story behind the submission.

😰 What nearly broke you?
The clock? The bugs? The moment you realized your idea was too big?

💡 What surprised you the most?
About the process, about yourself, or about game development in general?

🧭 How did you navigate the 13 days?
Did you plan ahead or figure it out as you went?

👨‍👩‍👧 Worried about the circle of family, friends, or campus?
Did the people around you understand what you were building — or did you have to explain it ten times? Did their reaction push you forward or make you doubt yourself? And how did you finally handle it?

🏁 What finally got you to submit?
Pride? Stubbornness? Sheer caffeine? Be honest! 😄

🎮 Drop your game link
Your story deserves to be heard — and so does your game!

🤝 Support the community
Rate, play, and leave honest feedback for fellow creators. 🚀

Mojo & Zantro is my first ever Game Jam submission — and honestly, the word “Jam” paired with “Game” was something I had never even heard before this!

My classmates weren’t too interested at first — but after submission, my teacher actually played the game and excitedly asked me how to get a better score. That feeling alone made the effort worthwhile.

🎮 Play:
⭐ Rate & Feedback:

What nearly broke you? The clock? The bugs? The moment you realized your idea was too big?

Day 1 I started with the idea for a turn based tactics game, but I as wrote more lore for the game I realised I would make a prologue to a tactics game that doesnt exist(and might not ever) and make a shoot em up bullet hell

💡 What surprised you the most? About the process, about yourself, or about game development in general?

How easy it is to overscope a project. Even when i though my scope was tiny, i still had sleepless nights

🧭 How did you navigate the 13 days? Did you plan ahead or figure it out as you went?

I honestly didnt plan anything. I just went with what I thought would work for the game

👨‍👩‍👧 Worried about the circle of family, friends, or campus? Did the people around you understand what you were building — or did you have to explain it ten times? Did their reaction push you forward or make you doubt yourself? And how did you finally handle it?

Family is always extremely supportive. My son is arguably my number 1 fan. Aria I want her to be strong and confident because i also have two daughters. 

🏁 What finally got you to submit? Pride? Stubbornness? Sheer caffeine? Be honest! 😄

I was glad i finished the game but incredibly worried how people were going to take the game. Would they understand my vision, would they have fun? Would it get trashed? You never really know until players play your game. 

This was my 3rd game jam and my first and the second one was submitted on GDevelop big game jam #7 and #8 even though the second one wasn't able to play like the file was broken but this time, I planned ahead like what I wanted this game to be so when the clock started ticking, I started to make my vision and I continued it for 4-5 days and I totally forgot about the theme cuz I was focused on game feel and juice, sfx and visuals and enemy variety and content and then I just checked the Gamedev.js jam page and that is when I saw the theme!! My game wasn't at all related to theme, Machine so I made a BOSS called The Machine and added some gears, a facility lore where you enter the building, escape security, finds the key to the lobby and destroy the machine and I made a survival mode(endless) to keep the game fresh with upgrades and new 2 exclusive enemies and an amazing difficulty curve in my opinion and a leaderboard where it calculates total kills and ranks based on the highest and you can change your name in the menu, unlock new weapons and etc like I focused on making the game feel smooth, polished and just satisfying!! And I think I was able to create that feeling :)
Here's my game: GUNGLASSES